Like most logisticians, Cindy Cline's job is to ensure a smooth, predictable flow of product, from raw materials to manufacturing plants to ocean carriers to inbound distribution centers, and finally to retail outlets. That's the plan, anyway.

But the senior transportation manager at Ames True Temper knows that there are always outside forces at work that can disrupt the most carefully laid plan. A savvy 20-year transportation veteran, Cline is accustomed to demand patterns changing on a dime. Ames True Temper is a leading manufacturer of non-powered lawn and garden tools, so its sales are affected by such seasonal factors as the weather. When winter storms hit the Northeast, for example, demand for snow shovels takes off, and it's up to Cline and her colleagues to make sure those shovels get into stores before the snow melts.

In the winter of 2003, Cline had a lot more to contend with than the weather. Events that were occurring nearly 3,000 miles away from her desk at Ames' world headquarters in Camp Hill, Pa., were about to create one of the biggest transportation challenges the company had ever faced.

The West Coast longshoremen's work stoppage had just ended. During the shutdown, scores of ships had waited at anchor outside ports up and down the coast, including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Ames True Temper's main gateways for imports from Asia.

Once the labor situation was resolved, those ships lined up to unload thousands upon thousands of containers that had been in limbo for nearly two weeks. Now the scramble was on to take delivery of all of those shipments and make up for lost time.

Ames True Temper sells a wide variety of products to some of the largest retailers in the country, including such giant chains as Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, TruServe, and Ace Hardware. It also counts many smaller lawn and garden stores among its customers. Regardless of size, all of them were anxious to restock their shelves after such a long supply disruption. But one customer—Home Depot—had to be the top priority.

Because of its size and clout, Home Depot is one of the most demanding

retailers on the planet. Ames True Temper suddenly found itself with nearly 400 shipments of imported goods that had to be delivered to Home Depot stores in 12 Eastern states on specific days. Those shipments had to be fast, timely, accurate—and cost-effective. What to do?

Cline decided it was no time to experiment with a new carrier. Early one morning, she called Jeff Craig, a senior account manager at Roadway Express. Roadway had been one of Ames True Temper's primary less-than-truckload (LTL) motor carriers for 15 years.

Cline explained that Home Depot's shipments not only had to make it out of the highly congested West Coast ports quickly, but they also had to hit specified delivery windows at retail stores on the other side of the country. She also made it clear that Ames True Temper needed to avoid the "chargeback" penalties that Home Depot would issue if the shipments weren't delivered on time.

"She needed all of those loads delivered to stores on a specific Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday," Craig recalls. "They were looking at horrendous chargebacks if we could not accomplish that feat."

Craig suggested that Cline consider using Roadway's new Multi-Day Window Delivery service, which the carrier had rolled out around the time the longshoremen's work stoppage began. That service guarantees on-time, day-specific deliveries, or there's no charge to the shipper. It was a match that fit Ames True Temper's needs like a hand in a glove.

The bottom line: Over the course of just three days, a total of 387 shipments were delivered on time to Home Depot stores in a dozen states. "There was not one delivery that fell outside the [delivery] window," Craig reports. "There was not one dime charged back." Continued...

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